Pietro Longhi

Longhi, Pietro (pyāˈtrō lôngˈgē) [key], 1702–85, Venetian genre painter. Longhi studied with Crespi in Bologna. He is best known for his small pictures depicting the life of upper-middle-class Venetians of his day. Pastel-colored, doll-like figures move stiffly but daintily through The Visit (Metropolitan Mus.) and Exhibition of a Rhinoceros (National Gall., London). Apart from early frescoes done in a more lively and vigorous style (Sagredo Palace, Venice) Longhi's artistic life was devoted primarily to his small-scale genre works. He duplicated several of his own works, many of which were also copied by his followers. Examples are in the Museo Correr, Venice; the National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; and the City Art Museum, St. Louis. His son, Alessandro Longhi, 1733–1813, was a portrait painter and author of a work on the lives of 18th-century Venetian painters, for which he engraved the illustrations. A portrait attributed to him is in the Metropolitan Museum.